The Warriors’ well-honed self-destructive tendencies were on full display in 135-131 loss

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Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) reacts during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors' Andre Iguodala (9) battles for the ball with Los Angeles Clippers' Montrezl Harrell (5) during the third quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

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Golden State Warriors fan Jo Norwood, of Fremont, looks on in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of an NBA first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 15, 2019. The Clippers beat the Warriors 135-131. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors' Andrew Bogut (12) falls to the court while playing defense during the first quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Los Angeles Clippers' Montrezl Harrell (5) dunks past Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr walks back to the bench during the first quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Los Angeles Clippers' Lou Williams (23) shoots past Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) rolls on the court during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Los Angeles Clippers' Montrezl Harrell (5) lets out a yell after being fouled by the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Golden State Warriors 135-131. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Los Angeles Clippers' Danilo Gallinari (8) drives to the basket past Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of their NBA first round playoff series at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, April 15, 2019. The Clippers beat the Warriors 135-131. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

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OAKLAND — Were you surprised by the fact that the Warriors blew a 31-point second-half lead and lost to the Clippers in Game 2 of their first-round series Monday?

If so, you must have missed this team’s regular season.

Yes, 31 is an awful lot of points to choke away — an NBA postseason record, in fact — but in many ways, the Warriors spent 82 games practicing for a moment like Monday’s.

Because if the 2018-19 Warriors’ developed one habit this regular season, it was taking their proverbial foot off the accelerator. Monday night, they turned in their best coasting performance yet, allowing 85 second-half points and being unable to re-engage offensively down the stretch when that massive second-half lead dwindled down to a single-digit deficit.

The Warriors were done in, yet again, by their hubris — the natural and unavoidable byproduct of four straight trips to the NBA Finals and a roster overloaded with talent.

Monday’s loss was another reminder that it’s really hard to three-peat and even harder to win four out of five.

That’s not to absolve the Warriors of their sins Monday. No sir — it’s merely a reminder.

And while the Warriors might be the most talented team in the tournament, they are by no means perfect. This team showed cracks, on and off the court, in the regular season — ones that could expand and leave this team in ruins this postseason.

Some of those cracks re-appeared on Monday.

(Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Ultimately, the Clippers are not going to the team that razes this Warriors dynasty. Yes, they played an excellent second half Monday — there’s no doubt about that — but in the process, they lost their best asset in beating Golden State: the element of surprise.

So no, Monday night was not the beginning of the end for the Dub dynasty.

But it might have been a sneak preview.

The truth is only one team can beat the Warriors — the Warriors. In Game 2, they showed how refined their self-destructive tenancies are.

The Warriors now have two-plus days to stew in Monday’s defeat — to sit in the embarrassment and anger.

How will the Warriors channel those emotions?

The Warriors find themselves at a crossroads in this series — one that could define this postseason and, in turn, an era.

Will they turn them back on themselves, perhaps expanding those cracks that re-appeared Monday? Or will they use them for fuel to play better ball in the days and weeks to come?

There’s little reason to believe that Golden State won’t handle the Clippers for the remainder of this now-extended series — they did have a 31-point second-half lead, after all — but the remainder of their own mortality in Game 2 could serve as a reminder that they cannot take any win for granted in the postseason.

That’s an important lesson to be taught early on, particularly with the set-up of the Western Conference bracket.

Should the Warriors right the ship and advance, they’ll likely face their rival Houston Rockets in the second round. They don’t want to learn hard lessons about effort in that series, because that team, unlike this Clippers’ outfit, could help them in their self-inflicted downfall.

Golden State wasn’t threatened by the Clippers, so they played loose, uninspired basketball after going up 31 points, just as they had done so many times in the regular season.

Only this wasn’t the regular season, and the Clippers are not an ordinary team.

LA didn’t make the playoffs because they were talented, they made it because they’re ornery and relentless. To them, a 31-point lead wasn’t an insurmountable deficit, it was a challenge.

And by the time the late threat from LA became imminent to the Warriors, Stephen Curry and company’s minds were halfway to Tuesday’s off-day and unable to re-engage with the opponent who was playing hard to the final buzzer.

Of course, after an epic blunder like Monday’s, was will be plenty of blame to be divvied out to blue-and-gold-clad parties.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is facing the brunt of it in the post-game aftermath, though for the life of me, I don’t understand why. The chief argument against him is that he shouldn’t have taken out his best player, Curry, when he picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter, with the Warriors up 28 points.

That, of course, is ridiculous — a comical byproduct of the disconnect between critical thinking and clear hindsight that shows up in moments like these.

Alas, being blamed for complicated situations that go against a team is in the job description for head coaches. Kerr will survive.

Kevin Durant will pick up blame, too. He turned the ball over nine times, shot only eight times, and picked up four offensive fouls in the second half to foul out of the game with 1:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. He’s yet to finish a contest in this series.

It’s hard to argue that Durant had a good contest, but even with his uninspiring performance, the Warriors opened up a 31-point lead with it.

The truth is that one man cannot be blamed for the Warriors blowing a 31-point second-half lead — that’s a team effort and everyone played their part in the historic failure.